Treon v. Coffelt, 47421
| Decision Date | 11 April 1960 |
| Docket Number | No. 2,No. 47421,47421,2 |
| Citation | 334 S.W.2d 94 |
| Parties | George TREON, Appellant, v. Dr. Kenneth COFFELT and Dr. Curtis Epps, Trustees under Will of Ada L. Morelock, deceased, Wayne T. Walker and W. Ray Daniel, Executors of Will of Ada L. Morelock, deceased, and Burge Hospital, Respondents |
| Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
Farrington & Curtis, E. C. Curtis, Thomas Strong, Springfield, for appellant.
C. Wallace Walter, Buell F. Weathers, Mann, Walter, Powell, Burkart & Weathers, Springfield, for respondents, Dr. Kenneth Coffelt, surviving trustee, and Burge Hospital.
This is an action for specific performance of an oral agreement to devise to the plaintiff a 3-acre tract of real estate. The trial court denied relief and plaintiff appealed.
Plaintiff's petition alleges that on or about October 26, 1946, plaintiff and one Ada Morelock entered into an oral agreement, by the terms of which plaintiff agreed to care for the said Ada Morelock for the remainder of her life, furnishing her such financial assistance and personal care and attention as she might need and request, including one-half of the annual proceeds of a bait hatchery being operated by plaintiff in Christian County, Missouri, and that in return the said Ada Morelock agreed to devise to plaintiff the real estate described in plaintiff's petition and located on Glenstone Avenue, Springfield, Missouri. The petition alleges full performance of the agreement upon the part of plaintiff; that the said Ada Morelock, in keeping with the agreement, executed a will devising the property to plaintiff, but that shortly before her death she destroyed that will and executed a new will devising the property to defendant Burge Hospital, thereby breaching her contract with plaintiff.
The testimony showed that at the date of the alleged agreement, Ada Morelock was 62 years old. She lived at 2227 Glenstone in Springfield. Plaintiff moved to the Morelock home as a roomer and boarder, 25 to 30 years ago. During the period of time he lived there, plaintiff was working nights and wanted something to do in the daytime, so he began selling minnows he seined from a creek and placed in a goldfish pond on the Morelock property. Mrs. Morelock helped get the business started. The minnow business grew, and pools were built in the back yard. As the minnow business grew, Mrs. Morelock began working with plaintiff and spent more and more time working at the minnow business. They worked together for several years and divided the profits of the business. In addition to the retail bait business on Glenstone, there was a bait hatchery in Christian County near Ozark located on a 40-acre tract purchased by plaintiff in 1941.
In October 1946, Mrs. Morelock became ill and upon advice of her doctor, the minnow pools and bait business at her residence were closed and were never reopened. There was testimony that she did some work at the bait hatchery near Ozark after that date, perhaps up to 1948, 1949 or 1950. Her letter dated February 17, 1954 stated that she quit work eight and one-half years before. There was other testimony that she tried to work in 1947, but had to give it up because her health would not permit her to continue. Mrs. Morelock lived until December 17, 1956, but she was in ill health during all the period from 1946 until her death. She suffered from dropsy and leukemia. Her expense for medicine was from $60 to $80 per month for several years. She was hospitalized every two or three months for periods of about three weeks. The longest she was ever out of the hospital was in 1954 when she was out for five months. Each time she was hospitalized her bill, not including the doctor, was $500 to $575. On two occasions plaintiff took her to a hospital in St. Louis where she stayed for several days, remaining the second time more than two weeks. According to three witnesses Mrs. Morelock kept money in tin cans in the home, from $1,000 to $2,500 in a can. The money totaled $2,000 to $5,000. She also kept money in two billfolds. All of this money came from plaintiff. She paid her bills from the money in the cans, first transferring small amounts to her billfolds.
Mrs. Morelock kept her own books and kept close account of the medicines, treatments and expenses when she was in the hospital, but she was not able to keep all of the books during all of the years after 1946. She was prompt in the payment of her bills up to the last three or four weeks of her life, and in June 1956, Mrs. Morelock was paying her bills and was as mentally alert as before. Plaintiff was quoted by one of the witnesses as saying that she was a good business woman and that if it had not been for her, he wouldn't have what he did have. At one time when Mrs. Morelock was ill, plaintiff stated that all he had he owed to the Morelocks. He was greatly concerned about her illness.
Mrs. Morelock executed a will in 1951 in which she left the property on Glenstone to plaintiff. She executed another will in 1953 also leaving it to plaintiff. She made a third will on July 31, 1956, less than five months before her death and left plaintiff $1,000 and certain furniture, later appraised at $351. By this will she directed the sale of the Glenstone property and bequeathed the proceeds to Dr. Kenneth Coffelt and Dr. Curtis Epps, Trustees, for the use and benefit of Burge Hospital.
The wills were all prepared by the defendant Wayne Walker. In preparing the last will, Mr. Walker discussed the provisions of the will with Mrs. Morelock at her home and used penciled notations prepared by Mrs. Morelock.
In 1954 Mrs. Morelock made a gift to plaintiff of her one-half interest in the Glenstone Bait Co., 2227 Glenstone, Springfield, Missouri, 'consisting of good-will, truck, equipment and small minnow stock' and 'also any interest of donor in Glenstone Hatchery, Ozark, Missouri.' Plaintiff sold the Ozark Hatchery in 1956. It was sold with another hatchery plaintiff owned at West Plains. The combined sale price for the two was $100,000. The sale was all in a combination, with no price set on either property. There may have been some conversation that the West Plains Hatchery was priced at $30,000, and the balance on the Christian County Hatchery.
The will was read at the Morelock home after her death by Mrs. Jennie Oltman and the plaintiff, and later by Mrs. Bessie Hutchinson. Also present at the house were Mr. Walker, his secretary, Jo Ellen Beatty and Paul E. Minick. The value of the Glenstone property was estimated to be $7,000 to $10,000 in 1946 and $60,000 to $65,000 at the time of the trial.
In view of the fact that the law of each case of this nature must arise from its own peculiar facts (Ver Standig v. St. Louis Union Trust Co., 344 Mo. 880, 129 S.W.2d 905, 907) we will set forth the testimony somewhat in detail.
Mrs. Jennie Oltman testified that she had known Mrs. Morelock for 39 years. Mrs. Morelock was her closest friend. They were constant companions and saw or talked to each other daily at all times when Mrs. Oltman was in Springfield. From May 1951 to September 1952, Mrs. Oltman lived in Texas, but made many trips back to Springfield and saw or talked to Mrs. Morelock daily. Since January 1953, Mrs. Oltman has lived in St. Louis about seven months of the year and in Springfield five months of the years. When she was in St. Louis, she wrote Mrs. Morelock weekly and made frequent trips to Springfield to see Mrs. Morelock, coming every month or every two months. She visited Mrs. Morelock each time she was in the hospital, with only one exception. Mrs. Oltman testified that Mrs. Morelock wanted Mrs. Oltman with her in her last illness, so she came and stayed in Mrs. Morelock's home the last seven and one-half weeks of her life. She stated she was not a friend of the plaintiff.
Mrs. Oltman testified that she was present in Mrs. Morelock's home in October 1946, the day the minnow pools were closed; that Mrs. Morelock had been out of the hospital a few days, and Mrs. Oltman went out to see her; that Mrs. Morelock told her that she had had a long talk with plaintiff that morning and that she had made an agreement with plaintiff and that she was going to give him her home and everything in it at her death. Mrs. Oltman quoted Mrs. Morelock as saying:
Mrs. Oltman said that another time Mrs. Morelock referred to the agreement, saying that when she was gone plaintiff would not have to work so hard and he could live there and open up the pools and have the retail business, and said that on another occasion she again mentioned the agreement stating: Mrs. Oltman testified that Mrs. Morelock had shown her the first two wills, one in 1951 and the other in 1953. She said that in both of those wills the home place on Glenstone was devised to plaintiff for all he had done according to the agreement. Mrs. Oltman also testified that plaintiff told her that he was 'going to file it (suit) on the ground of being Mrs. Morelock's common-law husband, although he did not tell her he was such common-law husband; Mrs. Oltman told Mrs. Bessie Hutchinson that's what plaintiff was going to do. Mrs. Oltman and plaintiff were at the home of Mrs. Dorothy Mason several days after Mrs. Morelock's last will was read. Mrs. Oltman was present when plaintiff told Mrs....
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